About Our Program
Training & Resources for STEM Teachers and Other Educators (grades 6–12)
Science Ambassador Fellowship
This intensive fellowship is an opportunity for diverse STEM teachers and other educators to learn foundational epidemiology and public health concepts, collaborate with CDC experts to develop STEM lesson plans, and be an ambassador for teaching public health.
The fellowship includes:
- Five-day summer course at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia
- One year of distance-based partnership with CDC STEM specialists
- Virtual training on how to use STEM lesson plans in the classroom
- Support for presenting at local teacher conferences or meetings
Eligible travel, meals, and lodging expenses for the summer course are covered by CDC.
Learn more and apply.
CDC NERD Academy Curriculum
This innovative and standards-based STEM curriculum is based on the investigation of a fictional novel emerging respiratory disease (NERD). The eight modules are age-appropriate and use relatable scenarios that keep students engaged while they learn about public health and its many career opportunities. You can download lesson plans in English or Spanish language and then choose how to use them—sequentially in a comprehensive series, reordered to suit your needs, or as stand-alone lessons.
The curriculum includes:
- Detailed lesson plans (English and Spanish) with handouts
- Educational videos that cover basic epidemiology and public health concepts
- Activities that use real scientific data
- Career spotlight posters (English and Spanish)
- Glossary (English and Spanish)
- NGSS and NHES alignment (English and Spanish)
Regional Training Workshops
Regional training workshops provide a unique opportunity for STEM teachers and other educators to practice using public health STEM lesson plans, learn strategies to teach epidemiology and public health concepts, and meet public health experts.
Training workshops include:
- Two-day training in a U.S. city
- Interactive sessions that walk-through bringing public health STEM lesson plans to diverse students
- Panel discussions with CDC experts, state and local public health professionals, and university faculty and students from local public health programs
STEM Lesson Plans
STEM teachers and CDC experts collaborated to develop standards-based lesson plans with activities that help students learn and practice public health skills, including those of a CDC disease detective. Students learn skills they can apply to their daily lives. Users can tailor these downloadable lesson plans to meet students’ needs.
Lesson plans include:
- Background information about real outbreak investigations, public health issues, and CDC research
- Activity instructions and answer keys
- Student handouts
- NGSS alignment